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1 Dollar United States Treasury, 'Rainbow Note'
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1869 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Bureau of Engraving and Printing |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ONE DOLLAR THE UNITED STATES Will pay to Bearer ONE DOLLAR TREASURY NOTE |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in green ink, with an intricate guilloche pattern of interlocking lathe-work rosettes filling the field. Large numeral '1' appears within ornamental cartouches at left and right, with 'ONE' repeated vertically and 'DOLLAR' centered at the base. A central panel carries the legal tender and anti-counterfeiting text in small letterpress type. |
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| Comments |
The "Rainbow Note" designation refers to the entire 1869 Legal Tender series, which replaced the drabber first-issue greenbacks with a deliberate shift toward polychrome printing as an anti-counterfeiting measure. The thinking was sound: reproducing precise color registration across multiple ink passes was far beyond the reach of most contemporary forgers.
Albert Sealey's engraving work on this denomination is among the finest produced by the BEP in its early years. The 1869 series was also the first to use a distinctive red serial number combined with a red Treasury seal — both features that collectors now use to quickly authenticate against later Legal Tender issues that superficially resemble them.